[Closed] Shimano freehub has "in-out" play from new: any ideas

Have you checked the bolt holding it onto the hub shell?

Nope! How do I get at that then? Do I have to take out the cones?

Axle out, 10mm allen key in from the freehub body, tighten with a lot of force.

Have you checked the bolt holding it onto the hub shell?

Though if it remember correctly, if the bearings are tight that would keep the centre, fixed part of the freehub in position so tightening it won't help.

edit - too slow on the first bit, but think the second still stands.

Thanks coatesy - much appreciated. Tomorrow's mini-project awaits.

#Edit - tthew - that's put a bit of a cloud over things! Thing is there is no way the cones can be done up any tighter - it'd start binding.

It's possible that if the bolt works loose, it can come out and touch the bearings and you'll get a false sense of tightness(A 7 mile walk in cycling shoes, with a locked up hub, will tell you it can come out a touch further and jam the lot up).

I [i]could[/i] be wrong, but the ones I've taken apart in the past have the brake side bearing in the main hub and the gear side bearing in the freehub. The 10mm bolt tightens the splined inner, fixed part of the freehub to the main hub and makes it all one solid unit.

The freehub has some separate small bearings in it that lets the outer shell rotate, which are non-serviceable as it's a sealed unit you unbolt and throw away when it's knackered, so I think that it's likely that your has some kind of manufacturing fault from new that means it needs replacing. (I don't know if you can picture how this all works from my description, not sure I could! 😀 )

If that 10mm bolt was loose, I reckon the whole freehub would be wobbly on the wheel as well as the side to side play you describe.

I'm like you that I'd rather just fix things rather than have the faff of taking it back to the shop, but in this case if you dismantle it all and the shop can tell you did this when/if you take it back they'll just say you caused the fault and it'll be hard to get them to honour the warrantee.

Defintely worth checking - the contact area between the freehub and the hub doesnt look much when you take it apart.

The bolt needs 60lbs of force at the end of a 6" hex key, which is tight - really tight.

Coatesy - sound's like you have some experience of this. When your freehub came loose was it wobbly on it's splines, or did they hold the thing solid, (apart from the side to side play)?

Slightly off the main topic but...

The cones are tight - any tighter and the hub is notchy.

Then your cones are way too tight. 😉

They should be adjusted so a tiny amount of freeplay still exists, which tightening up the QR correctly (which tensions the axle) [u]just[/u] removes.

Thanks guys - I'll try tightening the 10mm bolt and after that it's back to the "experts" at Decathlon. Its a PITA that's its happening from new - but I guess that happens sometimes.

#Edit - trucker - I know that: but in this case I'm trying to identify / overcome a problem and I wouldnt leave them that tight normally. Thanks though!

Can you let us know the outcome please? Nice to understand these things.

Afraid it's a bit far back (probably 15 yrs)to remember the symptoms I had, but the walk is still etched in the memory. As mentioned above, it's quite possible that you have a faulty freehub body, but worth checking it's fitted tightly first.

Will do!

#edit- i'll try tightening the 10mm first then back to Decathlon.